The back of the game box posted:

Totaler Krieg!
This game stretches from the fjords of Narvik to the sands at El Alamein, from the gates of Moscow to the sandy beaches of Normandy, from the Spanish Civil War to the last days in Berlin and everything in between. No game tells the story of World War II in Europe like Totaler Krieg!

Dai Senso!
This game stretches from the border clashes at Marco Polo Bridge and Nomonhan to the titanic clashes at Midway, Guadalcanal and Leyte, to the firestorms of Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki and everything in between. No game tells the story of World War II in Asia and the Pacific like Dai Senso!

Welcome to Axis Empires, the absurdly large game of World War II! We will be playing the Whole drat Thing, from 1937 and the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War to whenever-the-heck-we-actually-finish-this-monstrosity, as I don't foresee that being any time soon! I'll be using the VASSAL module to keep track of everything, and Dropbox to host images.

For those looking to play, good news! I already have three players who know what they're doing for the factions, so experience is not required! If you'd like to try your hand at this, please post which faction/country your interested in and we'll work something out.

Taran_Wanderer fucked around with this message at Dec 20, 2014 around 00:38

So excited for this. For those reading/playing that aren't familiar with AE, luckily the first few years go really fast since there's no actual "war" going on. I'm actually only really well-versed in TK, but I'll brush up on some of the DS-specific stuff.

Posted this in the wargames thread as a response to someone, but it's good info for anyone interested in TK (whether it's this game or just playing by yourself/with friends)

quote:

The game doesn't start until Sunday, so you can download VASSAL/the VASSAL module along with the rulebook/the playbook (both from GMT) and get up to speed within a couple days. The playbook has really good intro scenarios that ease you into the game.

For instance, the first training scenario for Totaler Krieg (A.1) is Case White in Poland. It's very small, and it literally says "read these rules sections before playing, and read these rules sections as you play. This first scenario will teach you basic movement and combat." Then the second training scenario teaches a little more, then a little more, then you're advised to read a few sections that will bring you up to speed for a full game. It's written really well and eases you in with baby steps, for the most part.

It's certainly not a beginner board game or anything by any means, but with the way the playbook/rulebook are laid out, I personally found it a lot easier to learn than a lot of other games. I mean, I still beat my head against A Victory Denied which has like a 10-page rulebook, just because it's so vaguely written.

The faction leaders (Me, Tekopo, BlackMongoose I think?) will be making the high-level decisions along with card choices and stuff, but actual unit movement and combat within the minor countries will be handled by the controlling person, if I understand correctly.

So, don't be scared by the enormous map and tons of counters! TK is my new darling game, and I've put a ton of hours into playing it solo and via PBDropbox now. It's so fun and elegant

By the way, do you want to play with the revised DS rules? Blackmongoose can explain.

It might be easier not to because the VASSAL mod doesn't have the strat hex change yet. I'm not 100% sure what's in the playtest rules and what's been officially errated, but I can look into that this weekend and give my recommendation (The Japanese steps being lowered is the only change I think is absolutely necessary, the others just make things a little nicer).

I'm planning on running the US and cardplay on both boards (subject to my co-factioners wishes of course), but if we don't get a Britain, I can take them on the Pacific board if you can run them on the Europe board.

blackmongoose fucked around with this message at Dec 19, 2014 around 21:37

Throwing caution to the wind, sign me up for Great Britain. I'll start reading up on the rules and such. I'm currently away on holidays but will be home Monday my time (Sunday for those Americans amongst you).

Is there a list of inactive minor countries available? I'd throw my hat in the ring for Finland, given their later activity and gnarly dudes on skis.

Do keep in mind that the historical Winter War is a fairly abstract thing in this game and a result on the incident table when you fail to immediately get a country's ceded territory. In this case it's a couple step losses for the Soviets but they still get the territory. It's very rare for a minor country in this game to get activated(as in deploying units) without being involved somehow with a major power on its side, mostly involving the UK/France or USSR and their respective minors having different policies but not the initial one(the initial policy on minors kicks everything to the incident table rather than letting ww2 start. this is how Germany makes and gets its territorial demands).

I don't need to see them fight to know my ski infantry kicks rear end. Given Finland's strange predicament with the Soviets, I hadn't expected to do anything but read along and occasionally yell "Sisu!"

Alright, folks, it's time to get the last bits of Setup done. Specifically, the following units are already on the board, but may be placed elsewhere within the listed restriction:

On the TK Map
In any hex(es) in Germany – two German 1-2-3 infantry
In any hex in Britain – one British 1-2-2 infantry
In any hex(es) in France – three French 0-1-2 infantry
In any hex(es) in Russia – six Russian 1-1-2 infantry, two Russian 1-1-3 cavalry

On the DS Map
In any hex(es) in Manchukuo – two Japanese 3-3-1 infantry, four Kwantung 2-1-1 infantry, one Kwantung 2-1-1 HQ
In any hex(es) in Kiangsu – one Kiangsu 1-2-1 infantry, one Kiangsu 2-3-1 infantry
In any hex(es) in Russia – two Russian 3-3-1 infantry
In any hex(es) in Kansu – one Kansu 2-3-1 infantry

I'd like each player to post whether or not they'd like to move these units, and where they'd to move them to, if applicable. After this is done, I will determine which Allied faction controls the Republican Support in Spain and which branch is leading the Japanese Government. Faction Leaders will then PM me their Pending Option Card selections. If they do not wish to wait, they may PM their selections now.

For this game, I will not be enforcing any hard deadlines, and will attempt to update as often as possible. As long as players can post once per day, we should be able to keep this moving at a decent pace. I am not as familiar with the rules as I would like, so I will be relying on those with experience to keep us all straight. If you have any questions about the rules, please post in the thread or contact your Faction Leader.

I've also added a zip file of all the option cards. Feel free to peruse these so you have an idea what can happen, and can then bug convince your Faction Leader to play cards to help your country. I plan on uploading these somewhere and making a big list of links, but this will do for now.

Hey guys, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna need to drop out. I've been dog sick this weekend, and haven't been able to focus on reading and understanding rules. I won't be ready to play this week. Please give my slot to someone else.

Hey guys, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna need to drop out. I've been dog sick this weekend, and haven't been able to focus on reading and understanding rules. I won't be ready to play this week. Please give my slot to someone else.